Bargain buy Thistle Ask is well worth his place in Saturday's Grade 1 Clarence House Chase at Ascot after improving his Timeform rating by more than three stone since joining Dan Skelton.
Having been bought out of James Ewart's stable for only £11,000, Thistle Ask has won all four starts since joining Skelton and has increased his Timeform rating by an incredible 46 lb in little more than two months.
Thistle Ask is now rated 162+ following a spectacular ten-length success in the Grade 2 Desert Orchid Handicap Chase at Kempton on his latest outing, and he has reached a level of form considered high class on Timeform's scale.
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For comparison, that rating places him only 6 lb behind Jonbon, the leading two-mile chaser based in Britain, while Tingle Creek winner Il Etait Temps heads the division with a rating of 174.
No horse that started out in handicaps has improved as much as Thistle Ask this season. Bumpy Evans is next on the list having thrived for Tim Vaughan initially and then continued his progress for Kerry Lee, improving his rating by 38 lb.
Other success stories this season include Heeztheboy, who has won four of his five starts since joining Gary Hanmer and improved 33 lb in the process, and the prolific Centara, who has won five races and improved 29 lb.
Tony McFadden, deputy racing editor at Timeform and Sporting Life, said: "The progress Thistle Ask has made in two months is staggering and it would be little surprise were he to prove himself the pick of the British-based two-milers in the Clarence House Chase.
"He's certainly worth a shot at a Grade 1 after increasing his rating by more than three stone for his new stable, though connections are unlucky that Willie Mullins has decided to run Il Etait Temps, the highest-rated horse in the division."
Timeform master ratings for the Clarence House Chase runners
174 Il Etait Temps
168 Jonbon
162+ Thistle Ask
158 Gidleigh Park
157 JPR One
This season's biggest handicap improvers
46 lb Thistle Ask
38 lb Bumpy Evans
33 lb Heeztheboy
29 lb Centara
28 lb Finest View
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